Underground Railroad Route??

[Tandem Tom]

So I was wondering what the earliest start date might be starting at the southern end? Would appreciate hearing from those who have done it.
Thanks!

[John Nettles]

While I have not done the UGRR yet, you might want to add some qualifiers such as if you do 55 miles per day on average, only going to Cincinnati, and want to see a lot of the spring blossoms, etc.  Technically, you could start in Mobile at any time of the year as it is warm enough.  It is the points further north that may cause the trouble.  Just some thoughts.

[staehpj1]

I have not done the UGRR, but have done a good bit of touring and have looked at the route, so take this for what it is worth.

It would depend on how much cold you are willing to tolerate, how many miles you ride per day, and how short or long of notice you need at the start.  If you are doing long mileage days you might actually be able to plan based on the forecast at the time if you can go on short notice, otherwise i'd probably plan on not arriving at the end until around the end of March or the beginning of April.

Figure out how many days you will take, pick and end date and count back to pick a start date.  So if you will average around 60 mile days you can probably start around the end of February.  If you are on a slower pace you can start earlier (30 mile days would allow starting at least a month earlier).  If you are doing long days you need to start later.

[Pat Lamb]

You can do the route to the southern border of Tennessee almost any time, except perhaps for the day every year (on average) when there's snow on the ground.

The weather changes drastically from there to northern Kentucky.  I wouldn't plan on hitting the Ohio River much before April 1, unless you like ice in the mornings.  You might get lucky earlier, but then again, maybe not.

Actually, if I were planning, I'd try to get to Tennessee the first two weeks of April to catch the azalea, dogwood, and magnolia blossoms.

[spininin]

I rode section1, Mobile to Fulton, MS last October (2016). Lows ranged 40's to 60's. Highs ranged 60's to 80's. Good weather. We just finished Section 2 had had more or less the same temp ranges. Would not want to ride in summer.